Hardy hibiscus that I have raised from seed I usually leave in their pots and put in the cellar after the first season. I water them once a month. During the month of April I see their shoots appearing. Around the month of May I transplant them in the ground and give them plenty of miracle grow. By July they are flowering.After that I leave them in the ground and treat them like any other perennial. I now have at least 20 hibiscus bushes in my garden.

I've overwintered a tropical hibiscus in the winter under flourescent shop lights in the past. It works for a couple of years at least. It probably didn't bloom or do real well (I really can't remember), but it hangs around long enough to put it out again in spring.

I remember doing same with a mandevilla and abutilon. They lost some leaves, but stayed alive.

2 shop light fixtures (4 bulbs) over a table and a timer (12-16 hours a day, less in winter more as spring nears).

I've been overwintering a tropical hibiscus in my cellar, which is not exactly the brightest place. Some light comes in through the windows and the temp stays around 55 degrees. This has been going on for the past 8 years and the tree couldn't be healthier. I water it when the soil is completly dry.

I've overwintered a tropical hibiscus for several years in an unheated sunroom that faces south. I water it like any other house plant. It may lose some leaves, but overall does well. It sometimes will even flower as early as April, but then it gets plenty of sunlight all winter. The temperature in the sunroom can get into the 40's some nights and on sunny days can get to 70+.

Rich,
I bring my tropical hibiscus into the house, on the sun porch or sunny window. It doesn't go dormant but continues to bloom sporadically all winter. In the spring I prune it way back and return it to the deck where it blooms even more. /Abi